“The Little Rascals” are finally uncut and uncensored

Every kid that had a television at home during the 1970s had after school programming to vie for their attention. Every city had a children’s program; in Hawaii it was “Checkers and Pogo.” They provided afternoon slapstick, old Warner Bros. cartoons, and “The Little Rascals.”

Later, when the program started to reduce in size and finally disappear in 1982, the air time was filled by other 1970s sitcoms and “Star Trek,” but you could still find “The Little Rascals.” I loved those old shorts, especially the ones starring a younger Spanky McFarland.

It wasn’t until 1978 that I found a book, “Our Gang: The Life and Times of the Little Rascals,” written by film critic Leonard Maltin and Richard Bann, that gave me a lot more information on the series. It was originally called “Our Gang,” and it was conceived by a man named Hal Roach, who spent 15 minutes watching a group of kids argue over who was going to get the best pieces of scrap wood they had found down the street.

Roach’s intent was to just portray kids being kids, outsmarting adults along the way, but mostly just having fun with what was at hand. It started out in 1922 and continued through 1944, comprising 221 short films over the time period. The first 88 films were silent two-reelers; the second 80 were “talkie” two- and one-reelers, and the last 52 were products of the MGM studios, who bought them from Roach in 1938.

The new “The Little Rascals: The Complete Collection” from Genius Products is not accurately named: it does not contain the silent film era (although it does offer three of them on the supplemental disc); nor does it offer the MGM shorts. Nor does it contain the only “Our Gang” feature film, “General Spanky.” Nor does it contain the 1994 film. However, if you grew up on “The Little Rascals,” you’ll want this set. It has the episodes you saw on TV and loved as a kid.

I didn’t realize it until I read the Martin/Bann book, but most of the episodes that I saw as a kid were heavily edited. Commercial time was one factor; perceived racism was another. That surprised me, as the “Our Gang” shorts were always racially integrated. In fact, most of the best roles went to the black kids!

There were perhaps 60 or so episodes that were in the TV rotation; the ones that got the most editing for time were the early two-reelers, which lost as much as 10 minutes on average. The one-reelers were mostly intact, but any perceived racial elements were removed. Episodes that had outright racial overtones, such as “Little Daddy,” “The Kid From Borneo,” “A Tough Winter,” “Lazy Days,” “Little Sinner,” “A Lad an’ a Lamp,” “Moan & Groan, Inc.,” and “Big Ears” were eliminated from the series completely, according to Maltin/Bann.

One of the first films I watched on receiving this set was “The Kid From Borneo;” one of the banned films. Dickie, Dorothy and Spanky’s Uncle George has come to town, with his traveling show featuring “The Wild Man from Borneo.” Mom loves her brother, but Dad won’t have him in the house, so Mom sends the kids downtown with the showbill to see where her brother is setting up the show. The rest of the gang tags along. Unfortunately, they mistake Bumbo, the wild man, for Uncle George. Bumbo is a gentle creature despite his outlandish appearance, but has a big sweet tooth. When he sees candy, he goes semi-crazy, growling “YUM-YUM! EAT ‘EM UP!” Stymie makes the mistake of pulling out a bag of sweets in front of him, and the chase is on.

I can see where in the politically correct climate of today, this episode would be considered racist. The title character is a black man who has limited intelligence, dresses in animal skins, and has a painted face and a bone through his nose. Stymie even wonders aloud why he’s black, if he’s the white kids’ uncle, to which Dickie replies, “Mom says he’s the black sheep of the family.”

Yet you have to take a step back; these attitudes were common and sometimes expected in 1933, when the short was filmed. That doesn’t make them right, but to delete the short and others like it from the collective consciousness, plus editing those that don’t agree with modern times, is just as serious a problem, in my opinion. Watch them with an overview of how the black kids are treated as equal members of the gang, and you can get past that little bit of barbarism. Of course, if you thought Eddie Murphy’s “Buckwheat” bit on “Saturday Night Live” was funny, then you probably won’t have this affliction.

Other favorites that I watched first: the two “fire engine” episodes; “Hook and Ladder” and “Hi, Neighbor!” I also loved “Mush and Milk,” “Shrimps For a Day” and “Mail and Female,” which introduced the immortal “He-Man Woman-Haters’ Club.”

The first seven discs are introduced by various surviving members of the “Our Gang” shorts, but Disc 8 has the bonus features. The 30-minute “The Story of Hal Roach and Our Gang” was not as informative as I expected it to be, but the “Racism and the Our Gang Comedies” did feature some good commentary from Dick Moore, who had spoken about it to the late Stymie Beard about it in later years. “Catching up with the Rascals” features interviews with four surviving “Our Gangers:” Dick Moore, Jean Darling, Jerry Tucker and Annie Ross, plus “Memories of Spanky with Rick Sapphire.” Disc 8 also has three silent shorts from the first 88: “Dog Heaven,” “Spook Spoofing” and “Barnum & Ringling, Inc.”

If you grew up on these shorts, get this set. It beats any of the other compilations that I’ve seen. I didn’t have time to watch all of them, but I was amazed at how much was missing from the two-reelers. The restoration is well done, but black and white films should always look a little faded around the edges, in my opinion. As for the missing silent films and the later MGM shorts, who knows? We’ll see how this set does.

And if you really want the background on the series, pick up the Maltin/Bann book. It retails for $21.95, but you can get it for $14.93 on Amazon.com. I paid $5.95 for my first edition copy, but then I bought it brand new in 1978. It’s a good reference to have nearby to figure out which ones you want to watch first.